The present invention relates generally to a dissolvable, adhesive construction. More particularly, the present invention is a dissolvable, adhesive construction for the temporary masking, marking, fabrication, processing or combining components used in manufacturing or production. For example, in screen-printing, after the screen is coated with a light sensitive, solvent resistant coating, it is imaged, washed out with water and dried. Then some form of tape (usually masking or packaging tape) is placed on the inside of the screen, half on the frame and half on the coated mesh. Sometimes, the screen is flipped and more tape is applied to the backside as well for extra durability. However, when the screen is finished printing, it has the image coating and residue ink. The tape must now be removed so the chemicals can remove the ink and image coating. From a time standpoint, it is much quicker to apply tape to a clean screen then to remove it from a dirty screen. This same problem presents itself in a variety of parts production activities that require areas of a part to be masked off prior to additional processing and then the masked off tape to be removed manually.
Water dissolvable tapes are known in the prior art, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,828,018 to Waterbury et. al. However, when water is the dissolving material, there are inherent limitations of use based on factors such as humidity, weather conditions, and water based processing applications. As such, it would be useful to have a tape construction that is water resistant to withstand rain, humidity, snow, etc. yet removable.
As such, it would be useful to have a customized tape to mask off areas and parts that need some form of processing that can still be removed without damage or any additional labor.